On February 23, 2011, Al-Awda New York hosted Prof. Ahmet Dogan, father of Furkan Dogan, the 19-year-old Turkish-American student killed by Israeli military forces on board the Mavi Marmara as he participated in an international civilian humanitarian flotilla to break the siege of Gaza.

The event was co-sponsored by a number of organizations, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild-NYC, Siege Busters Working Group, United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC)-NYC, Labor for Palestine, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Black Agenda Report, International Action Center, BAYAN USA, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE NYC), American Muslims for Palestine – NYC and New York City Labor Against the War. Dima Abi Saab, co-chair of Al-Awda NY, Katherine Gallagher, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Lamis Deek, Palestinian lawyer and Al-Awda co-founder, also spoke at the event, which was chaired by Al-Awda co-chair Fatin Jarara.